Daniel 8:5

considering paying attention, reflecting(מבין): not, as in Daniel 7:8 (where the word is a different one), contemplating.

a he goat For the he-goat (though the Heb. word is different), the leader of the flock, as a symbol of a prince or ruler, cf. Isaiah 14:9; Isaiah 34:6; Ezekiel 39:18; Zechariah 10:3.

on over; its course carried it over the whole earth (the hyperbole, as in Daniel 4:1, though it is true that Alexander penetrated further to the east than any Assyrian or Babylonian king of whom we know). Cf. Malachi 1:3; Malachi 1:3, where it is said of him that he -went through to the ends of the earth" (διῆλθεν ἕως ἄκρων τῆς γῆς).

and touched not the ground as though flying, such was the incredible rapidity of its course. The Heb. is properly, -and there was nonetouching the earth," a more graphic and forcible expression than simply, -and ittouched not the earth." One is reminded involuntarily of Homer's description of the horses of Erichthonius (Il. xx. 226 9), and of Vergil's of the huntress Camilla (Aen. vii. 807 811, -Illa vel intactae segetis," &c.).

a notable horn a conspicuous horn; lit. a horn of sight. Explained in Daniel 8:21 to signify Alexander.

Alexander the Great crossed the Hellespont in the spring of b.c. 334. Having routed the Persian forces, which had assembled to oppose his advance, at the Granicus, he marched through Asia Minor, receiving the submission of many cities and peoples; and in Nov. b.c. 333, defeated Darius Codomannus, with great loss, at Issus, on the E. border of Cilicia. Having reduced Tyre (July 332), he marched through Palestine and conquered Egypt, founding in memory of the event the afterwards celebrated city of Alexandria. In 331 he crossed the Euphrates, and gave the final blow to the power of Persia at Arbçla, a little E. of Nineveh. Having made a triumphal entry into Babylon, he took possession of Persepolis and Susa, the two official capitals of the Persian kings. Darius meanwhile had fled into Bactria, where he was slain by conspirators; and Alexander, pursuing after him (330), secured only his corpse. Alexander then started for the further East. First, he invaded Hyrcania (on the S. of the Caspian Sea), then he passed on to Bactria and Sogdiana, after which, retracing his steps, he crossed (327) the Indus, and found himself in the country now called the Punjaub. Defeating Porus, a powerful Indian king, he subjugated the country; and then, with a large fleet, sailed down the Indus to its mouth. Thence (326) he returned through Gedrosia and Carmania (N. of the Persian Gulf) to Persepolis; and afterwards (325) to Susa. In 324 he was again in Babylon. There ambassadors from Greece and other parts were waiting to salute him, and greet him as the conqueror of Asia. He was planning further conquests, in particular, an expedition into Arabia, when he was seized with a fever, which after 11 days carried him off (June 28, b.c. 323), at the early age of 32.